soccer

The American victory in the most recent Women’s World Cup has given rise to what might be thought of as an international Title IX dispute, because the women footballers aren’t paid as much as World Cup men’s footballers. Here’s the indispensable Christina Hoff Sommers explaining why this latest complaint is more of the usual “gender gap” nonsense: »

Before there was the English Premier League (EPL), there was the English First Division. Before three substitutes were allowed, you could only use one. Before a win counted for three points, it was worth only two. Before middling tackles resulted in yellow cards, brutal ones often went unpunished. Before ticket prices soared, there was hooliganism. Before Arsenal fans sang “Walking in a Wenger Wonderland,” they sang “Charlie George, Superstar.” And »

Wayne Rooney will play once again for Everton, the team for whom he debuted so spectacularly in 2002 as a 16 year-old, before moving to Manchester United in 2004. Unfortunately, Rooney will don the Royal Blue jersey for only one game — the testimonial match for Everton legend Duncan Ferguson. Rooney explained: As a young lad growing up in Croxteth, Duncan Ferguson was a hero of mine. As a young »

In 2010, Bill Clinton and Eric Holder went to Zurich hoping to bring the 2022 World Cup to the United States. However, FIFA awarded the Cup to Qatar. Nearly everyone who followed the process suspected that Qatar got the Cup thanks to bribery. For one thing, there was evidence of attempted bribery. For another, why else would FIFA decide to hold world soccer’s signature event in the desert, during the »

Tonight at 10:00 p.m., I’ll be back on Tomi Lahren’s show, “On Point.” We’ll be discussing the indictment of FIFA officials and the scandals that led to the indictment. It should be fun. “On Point” is a program of One America News Network, a national network that airs on Verizon Fios, channel 116, AT&T U-verse, channel 208, and CenturyLink Prism, channel 209. It also streams on Roku and Amazon Fire. »

English soccer wrapped up its season on Saturday when Arsenal crushed Aston Villa 4-0 in the FA Cup final. This makes back-to-back FA Cup titles for the Gunners. Saturday’s victory capped a fine season for Arsenal. The Gunners finished third in the EPL, thus qualifying for the Champions League for the 18th year in a row. Once again, Arsenal made a fool out of celebrity (sort of) fan Piers Morgan. »

Bill Clinton is unsurpassed at spotting and exploiting corrupt entities. This ability forms the subtext of Clinton Cash, Peter Schweizer’s expose of the Clinton Foundation. If there is a corrupt government with which to engage in mutual backscratching, Bill Clinton will find it. Before long, a Clinton Foundation supporter will have obtained concessions from the government; Clinton will have obtained lucrative speaking fees generated by both the supporter (who will »

FIFA, the governing body of world soccer, has taken a huge and well-deserved hit. The Department of Justice announced the unsealing of a 47-count indictment that charges 14 FIFA officials with racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy. Meanwhile, Swiss authorities announced an investigation into the awarding of the next two World Cups to Russia (2018) and Qatar (2022). In addition, they raided FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich and arrested several »

On May 15, 1985, Everton defeated Rapid Vienna 3-1 to win the European Cup Winners Cup. The competition featured the winners of the top domestic cup in all European football leagues. It no longer exists — the cup winners now play in the Europa League. Most Everton fans viewed the final as almost anti-climactic. We thought the hard work had been done in the semi-final against German giants Bayern Munich. »

Fresh off of his electoral victory, British Prime Minister David Cameron has named MP Tracey Crouch as Minister for Sport. Crouch is an FA (Football Association) qualified soccer coach. She has coached a girls’ team for the past eight years, and is described as “a keen footballer herself.” During a Tory-Labour match she reportedly embarrassed Labour’s shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy by putting a penalty kick through his legs. As »

This has been a dreadful Premier League season for Everton Football Club. Our record is 7 wins, 12 defeats, and 10 draws. For the first time in years, we have genuine relegation worries. In fact, until Sunday’s 3-0 victory over Newcastle, Everton was only three points above the drop zone. Nonetheless, Everton is the last English club playing in European competition. Mighty Chelsea, Manchester City, and Arsenal were all eliminated »

Piers Morgan is no longer on American television, thank God. But he’s still serving up embarrassing soccer commentary. Before Saturday’s North London Derby between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, Morgan tweeted that Spurs emerging star Harry Kane “wouldn’t get on [Arsenal’s] bench.” Kane proceeded to score the two goals that gave Tottenham a famous 2-1 victory over their bitter rivals. Kane is the hottest forward in the Premier League. Arguably, he’s »

Chris Cillizza reports that Chris Christie, who is visiting London, attended today’s Arsenal match wearing an Arsenal scarf. The Gunners defeated hapless Aston Villa 5-0. I may be able to overlook Christie’s chummy encounter with President Obama just before the 2012 election. But the Dallas Cowboys and now perhaps the “Gooners”? That would be too much. »

Why not end the year with a soccer post? This one will cover (1) the world player of the year award, (2) the EPL title race, and (3) Everton. 1. Three players are finalists for world player of the year, to be announced next month. The three are Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Manuel Neuer. Ronaldo has been phenomenal this year for Real Madrid, but did not shine at the »

Wayne Rooney made his 100th appearance for England in yesterday’s Euro 2016 qualifying match against Slovenia. Only eight players have played more matches for England. Rooney should surpass Steve Gerrard (115 appearances) as England’s most “capped” outfield player. And, as Rooney is still only 29 years old, Goalkeeper Peter Shilton’s record of 125 appearances is also in jeopardy. Rooney wore the captain’s arm band yesterday, as he has since Gerrard »

European soccer returned to Goodison Park this week after an absence of more than four years. Everton celebrated with a 4-1 victory over the German side Wolfsburg in a Europa League match. The score flattered Everton. It was achieved on the strength of Tim Howard, the U.S. goalkeeper whose performance in the World Cup had some liberals lobbying to rename Ronald Reagan Airport after him. In his signature match against »